Local soldiers recalls vivid memories in Iraq

Army 1st Sgt. Timothy Bence spent this past Independence Day with his family, next to a barbecue and watching the bursting fireworks dance in the sky.

He was home.

It was a day he would remember because it was the day that he returned from serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"That night, I spent it with the family, sitting in the backyard with the neighbors and watched the fireworks," he said.

Bence, a 1984 graduate of Somerset Area High School, was deployed to the Kuwait-Iraq border and left Jan. 17. Tuesday, he spoke with members of the Somerset County Military Families Support Group.

His mission was to help install pipeline from the Kuwaiti territory and, once the war declaration was given, he and his men continued onward into Iraq.

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"We went into Kuwait and stayed there for awhile and we started working on the Inland Petroleum Distribution System (IPDS) pipeline," he said. "We built roughly 56 miles of two lines in Kuwait up to the breach point or border (with Iraq)."

A construction engineer, Bence's detail was to help build a pipeline.

"Once the war kicked off, we went across the border with the pipeline and ran it about another 160 miles," he said. "I didn't have a complete picture of how the battlefield was set up, but I know that we were in front of guys that should have been in front of us."

Bence said his soldiers initially passed some of the Marines.

"It was a very linear battlefield spanning hundreds and hundreds of miles," he said, explaining that it was difficult to map out each of the moving courses.

Bence said his company spent time in An Nasirya, located in the southern tier of the country and also the location where Pvt. 1st Class Jessica Lynch was rescued.

Bence explained the units moving across the desert were searching for the larger militant oppositions and left many of the smaller groups alone.

"If there were a couple guys on foot firing at them, they pretty much left them alone," he said. "They just kept on going through, looking for the bigger guns or any anti-aircraft that would try to knock down some of our helicopters."

The city had been checked for militant groups before Bence's crew arrived.

"An Nasirya was pretty hot up until the point that we were there," he said. "You had to pay attention to what was going on, because there was still a lot of ground forces moving around causing trouble."

The most frustrating aspect, Bence said, was trying to determine who was part of the militant groups.

"By the time that we got there, the biggest problem was that they took off their uniforms," he said. We looked at their shoes and if they were wearing sandals or civilian type shoes, you still had to pay attention, but you looked for the guy that was wearing boots."

He said he gave some of the soldiers advice- the best he knew to give.

"I told my guys that, after a week after the initial hostility, the Iraqis took off their uniforms and put on their robes," he said. The only way you could tell them apart from a regular civilian was that they were wearing boots. That was a dead give away."

Fortunately, Bence's company didn't witness much conflict.

"We didn't capture anybody and we didn't enter into any direct engagements with any other unit," he said. "We were pretty lucky in that."

Although he admitted that they did see some fire, he believed that it was coming from fellow soldiers unaware of their target.

"We got shot at, but I don't think it was coming from any of the Iraqis," he said. "I would say that it was probably coming from our own guys. That's the fog of war, or that is what they call it."

Also along his travels, Bence said he had the opportunity to help several Iraqi civilians that stayed in the country, including some children.

"We always would see Bedouins along the route and families," he said. "We had orders not to give them food or water, because it wasn't our responsibility. It was tough when you saw some of those kids."

Going against strict orders, Bence said he couldn't refuse water to a thirsty man, woman or child.

"We would give them a bottle of water," he said. "There was a point where a supply truck broke down along the road and there must have been a thousand cases of MRE's on the truck."

Bence explained that each case held about 12 meals in it.

"I told my guys to pull over and we would get some of these," he said. "We were loading up our truck and saw a couple Bedouin trucks down the road and they stopped."

Both sides on edge, Bence said the man only was there to ask for food for his family.

"The guy got out and he came over and it was obvious that he was nervous," he said. "He tried to pick up some packs that were split open, so I told my guys to give me a couple cases. I walked over and handed them to him and he ran off."

Bence explained that once the men gave one person something to eat or drink, others would soon follow begging for some, including many children.